Summer of 1957 . . .Handsome Yale grad Colm Moran wants to be a film producer. But his father has another idea: go dip his toe into the business world at a small company in rural California that makes bathing suits for women with problem figures. So Colm heads west and hilarity ensues. Return to 1957 when “nice girls” mostly didn’t, and an “itsy bitsy” bikini could start a riot. Here’s the perfect romantic and funny read for any beach!

Published August, 2014, trade paperAvailable from Amazon.com and also for Kindle ($2.99). Read a free preview.

More new Payne novels

Investigating the mystery of a forgotten author

Suburban Cleveland housewife Helen Spall has three difficult kids and a tax-attorney husband who’s inclined to be brutally frank about her shortcomings. Then she inherits a rundown house in a blue-collar town on the shores of Lake Erie, and her life begins to blossom. She investigates a once-popular, now forgotten novelist and her mysterious connections to Helen’s family. With her marriage dissolving and a possible new love in her life, Helen encounters surprise after surprise as she uncovers the many secrets that lay buried in those seductive novels.

Plain, overweight and friendless, 16-year-old Brenda Blatt is sent by her parents to a bleak school for troubled girls. Despised by her new roommates and scorned by the headmistress, Brenda suddenly finds her life turning around when she is befriended by the prettiest girl in the school. She experiments with dating and discovers she has a first-class singing voice. Brenda is becoming an admired leader at the school, when an apparent double betrayal sends her reeling. Amid the hilarity, this rollicking novel explores the nature and power of friendship.

Twisps invade Venice, California . . .Nick Twisp is “sort of” famous and is - by his own accounts - the greatest in his profession for the past 500 years. So why are his neighbors wondering who’s that “grouchy white man” in apartment 22B? Our hero faces career setbacks, life challenges, and much more in this latest installment of the Twisp family saga. Even more Twisps are on hand for romantic adventures, Twispian intrigue, and their clan’s always-frenetic approach to love and sex.

Published May, 2015, trade paperAvailable from Amazon.com and also for Amazon Kindle ($2.99) Read a free preview.

Sample previews of all of C.D. Payne's novels are available at Amazon.com.

Just publishedMeet striving poet Danny Nixon

Down and out in poetry land . . . This dark comic tale has it all: drinking, smoking, adultery, murder, suicide, donuts, and lots of zany poetry. The man in charge is R. Daniel Nixon (first name Richard), a tall, bald poet who can't seem to get a break: not from life or from the women he pursues. Join Danny in his quest to prove that poetry (and poets) can be bold, sexy, and vastly entertaining.

Published April, 2017, trade paperAvailable from Amazon.com. And also for Kindle ($2.99).

A summer 1949 roadtrip begins . . .The Cold War is heating up, TV is catching on, workers are striking, and the Army is looking for draftees. In Ohio recent high-school grad Wilder S. Flint hits the road in pursuit of a mystery salesman who promises miracles by the dozen. Come along as Wilder takes some hilarious detours and discovers that life rarely goes as planned. Also includes a bonus short story about the ultimate recycling project.